Thursday, February 13, 2014

Nerd Nite 24 Recap: "Hey Girl!'

When new co-boss Chad O'Bryhim took the stage sipping a fruity "Hey Girl" cocktail and talking about "book porn" and "sapiosexuality" over a sexy electronic beat, you might have thought to yourself: This is gonna be a nice little light-hearted Nerd Nite. Well, you'd have been (mostly) wrong.

First presenter Stephanie Scurto was repping LFK's Read Across Lawrence choice--Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping--and almost led the nerds into some serious lit-crit territory with Althusser and Foucault references. But somehow the presentation's ideological concerns overshadowed much discussion of the novel itself. Perhaps Scurto feared the nerds' wrath if too many spoilers were revealed, but she probably shouldn't have worried: most of the nerds were too drunk to remember any spoilers (and not planning to read the novel anyway). Plus, they were much more angry that she misidentified the Munsters as the Addams Family in one of the slides.

[sidenote regarding RAL14: even though Plymouth Church is obviously a no-brainer location for Robinson's visit to LFK, we're a little worried that beer won't be served].

Up next, Gina Egan delivered perhaps the most gut-wrenchingly personal and potent Nerd Nite presentation yet, focusing on violence against women. This kind of presentation is not exactly the standard fare at these shindigs, but we looked around once and saw that damn near every nerd in the room had put their phones down and were paying attention, so perhaps this kind of inspirational call-to-arms is needed no matter when and where it's delivered.

And then, Mike Anderson. The local relationship expert, talk-show host, and all-around handsome devil brought some much-appreciated levity back to the proceedings as he debunked divorce statistics and encouraged us all to strengthen relationships by indulging our sexual fantasies and penchant for pet names and phrases: "You're the only duck in my koi pond." Chip left the room at least 69% convinced that the advice will get him laid on Valentine's Day (so long as he can also obtain a bottle of Boulevard Chocolate Ale).

Special guest nerd in the crowd tonight: Punnilingus's grandma!

Visit our friends at Larryville Artists over here for their take on last night's event plus some great party pics including co-boss Peter looking crafty in a new Nerd Nite t-shirt (yes, the specs are shaped like the state of Kansas).